Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi has requested that the Scottish courts drop the appeal of his conviction in order to clear the way for a potential release from prison in order for him to return to Libya to die. He has prostate cancer and it has spread and he hasn't long to live. The Libyan government and his wife and several others have requested his release, based on compassionate reasons. Name not familiar to you? Megrahi was a former Libyan intelligence operative who was serving as the head of Libya's airlines security when he placed a suitcase bomb on a 747, Pan Am flight 103 which exploded and crashed on the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December of 1988. 259 people on the plane and 11 on the ground were killed in the crash. If he is released this year, he will have served about thirteen and a half days for each of the persons he killed.
The fascinating aspect of this story, even more than the audacity of the folks who want him released to go home to die, is that some of the families of the victims of the crash have said they were okay with it. British officials haven't decided yet, but the case is being seriously considered.
If you are too young to remember, or too old to remember, the crash was in 1988, and after three years of investigation by the FBI and Scotland Yard and others, Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah were indicted. From '91 until '99, there was a bunch of diplomatic mumbo-jumbo and finally Khadafi turned them over for trial. They were convicted and sentenced to life with a minimum of 27 years. I guess the sentence should have been life with a minimum of 27 years unless you get sick. This is making me sick. Is it any wonder the rest of the world thinks we are weak? I know...it isn't weakness, it is a sign of our morals and standards that we are a forgiving and compassionate people, us Christians. But to the West-hating, wild-eyed, radical Islamic Jihadists...it is weakness. The infuriating element of this is that if Megrahi is released, even if it is to a Libyan jail, he will go home a hero: crowds will cheer him, clerics will embrace him, and the Arab world will consider him another symbol of victory over the Infidel.
You know, when this life is over and we all get to the other side, there are going to be a lot of surprised people there...and they won't all be Jihadists.